There are several known ways to splice or attach the ends of a conveyor belt together that can be used based on the types of material and thickness of the belting, in addition to the anticipated loads and tension that the belt will experience in use. However, there are fewer ways to splice or attach single fabric belts in a manner that meets load and tension requirements, while allowing the belt to be used in a sanitary environment or other application that preferably utilizes a belt with a seamless or continuous upper surface. Other conveyor belts, such as those with multiple fabric layers and thermosetting cover materials, can also experience similar difficulties in spicing and forming end connections without the use of mechanical fasteners.
One example of a known type of connector for single fabric belting is the use of a mechanical fastener, such as a metal wire-hook fastener that uses hooks or loops pierced into the belting along opposing ends of the conveyor belt and secured together by an elongated pin that extends through aligned openings in the metal hooks when the loop ends are meshed together. Although mechanical fasteners can provide a secure connection capable of undergoing high tensile loads, these connectors can be undesirable in sanitary processing environments, such as food preparation, and other similar environments, due to the potential for corrosion and accumulation of particles at the connector, among other commonly understood drawbacks.
Another example of a known connection method for single fabric belting is attachment by skived splicing, where the ends of the belting can each be cut and shaved into a single wedge that overlaps the corresponding wedge on the opposing end, where the shaved surface areas can be held together with a rubber cement adhesive. This form of connection can be difficult and time consuming to form properly, and typically requires the opposing wedges to be consistently formed across the width of the belt at an angle that is small enough to provide sufficient surface area for consistent bonding strength that meets the requisite tensional forces for using the belt. Commonly, these opposing skived wedges can be uneven and result in inconsistent belt thicknesses at the overlapping connection area, an unstable overall connection, and an increased potential for the belt to wonder on a conveyor system.